Inga Sempé is a French designer known for her collaborations with a range of brands, including names such as Baccarat, Edra, Cappellini, Luceplan, Mutina, Ligne Roset, and Hay (to name just a few). At the solo exhibition within the Milan Triennale, you can see iconic objects and new items of her design in an unexpected setting.
The Imperfect Home is not your average exhibition. “I don’t like exhibitions in which objects are placed on high pedestals, like sculptures, demanding that the furniture be looked at as masterpieces of art. I don't need to be considered an artist. It’s enough for me to be an industrial designer,” comments Inga Sempé.
Together with curator Marco Sammicheli and the authors of scenography from Studio A/C, the designer designed an unusual interior in the museum space. More than 100 objects of Inga Sempé are located in the “house”, the owner of which seems to have just left the premises, leaving visitors to the exhibition to understand for themselves what happened.
“I want the interior to look alive, as if the owner just went out to buy bread, had a stroke or was hit by a car. Guests of the exhibition are investigators who must find out everything themselves based on abandoned socks, forgotten receipts on the table and food in the refrigerator,” Sempé jokes, adding that he hopes that the fictional owner is still alive.
The evidence in the ironic investigation proposed by Inga Sempée is furniture and accessories designed by her. In the Imperfect Home living room there is a Ligne Roset sofa, a staircase chair created for the French brand VIA, a floor lamp PO/202 from Cappellini, and a rug for Nanimarquina, one of the latest works, presented in 2024. In the kitchen, there are Column fronts from Reform, Alessi cutlery, Iittala plates and Guichet, and Moustache clocks. Tiles, door handles, lighting, mirrors - everything is also made according to Sempe’s sketches by leading brands. The exhibition is complemented by iconic objects from Gio Ponti and Achille Castiglioni and art objects by artists Mette Ivers and Saul Steinberg.
Milan, Museo del Design Italiano. Until September 15, 2024.
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